Baling-press.



6 Sheets-8heet Jinan?" )LM I e mm Patented Aug. 22, i899.

BALING PRESS.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1898.)

J. H. &. G. HOWARD &. G. GIBBS.

(No Model.)

Wit 71 n no: nomus PETERS 90., womumm, WASHINGTON. D. c.

No. 633L639. Patented Aug. 22, I899.

H. & a. HOWARD &. 6. (H333.

BALING PRESS.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1898.)

E Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

m: ucnms urns co. motolmva. WAsmNarou, ll 4:.

Patented Aug. 22, I899. .1. H. a a. HOWARD & a. GIBBS.

BALING PRESS. (Application filed-Apr. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.'

(N0 Modal.)

Parnassu THE nonms PETERS ca mom-um). WASHINGYDN, n. c

6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

BALING PRESS. (Applicationflled Apr. 19, 1898.)

H0 WASHINGTON. u. c.

(No Model.)

3 i a 1, Q r .f n

No. 63l,639. Pate nted Aug. 22, 1899. J. H. & G. HOWARD & a. GIBBS.

BALING PRESS.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Shegi 5.

(No Model.)

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mzvurmms Fuchs co, PNOYO-LKYNOW WASHINGTON, u c.

No. 631,639. Patented Aug. 22, I899. J. H. & G. HOWARD & G. GIBBS.

BALING PRESS.

.Application filed Apr. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Sheet B.

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' UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFIQEZ.

JAMES HAROLD I 'IOVVARD, GEOFFREY HOWARD, AND GEORGE GIBBS, OF BEDFORD,ENGLAND.

BALlNG-PRESS.

sPnc'rFx'cATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,639, dated August'22, 1899. Application filed April19, 1898. Seria1No.-678.i67.(Noinodel-l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that We, JAMES HAROLD HOW- ARD, GEOFFREY HOWARD, and GEORGEGIBBS, engineers, subjects of the Queen of 5 Great Britain, residing atthe Britannia Iron' Works, Bedford, in the county of Bedford, England,have invented certain new and usef ul Improvements in Baling-Presses, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention has reference more particularly to continuousbaling-presses of the kind in which the binding-wires are drawn fromreels by the bales as the latter are built up and pushed forward in thepress, the said wires 1 5 being passed across the rearends of the balesby suitable tools termed needles.

The main object of our present invention is to provide improvedmeans forthus wiring the bales, so as to reduce the amount of labor required andavoid danger to the attendant,

while at the same time rendering the working of the press more certainthan it has heretofore been. To this end we provide suitablemechanically-operated needles for feeding 2 5 the wires through thepress behind the bale after the said wires have been drawn around thebale in the formation of the latter. These needles may be actuated byany convenient moving part of the press; but we preferto ac- 0 tuatethem by the plunger, as hereinafter described. I

An important feature of the inventionconsists in the fact that the Wiresremain constantly threaded through the needlesthat is 5 to say, theneedles do not require tobe rethreaded after the formation of each bale.

A further important feature consists in providing means for connectingthe needles with the plunger of the press in such a manner that 0 theyare inserted into the press only as the plunger recedes and arewithdrawn therefrom in the forward movement of the plunger, therebyguarding against any risk of damage to the press by reason of contactbetween the plunger and said needles.

As the needles only require to be operated at intervals that is to say,on the completion of a bale-we provide suitable mechanism under thecontrol'of the attendant for throwing them into and out-of action.

' In combination with the needles we provide automatic grippers forengaging with the loops of wire as they are passed across the press andfor retaining them while the nee- ;dles return.

A suitable cutter is also pro- 5 5 vided, into which the attendanttransfers the loops. from the grippers. By means'of this cutter the saidloops can be severed, the ends required for the wiring of the next balebeing retained in the cutter, while the free ends are ready for theattendant to join to the ends of the wires which have just been passedaround the halo by the operation of the press, as hereinafter set forth.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, we will'now describe the same fully by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of partof a press'having our invention applied thereto. Fig. 1 is a detailview, in side elevation,'of a portion of the needle-operating mechanism.Fig. 2 is a plan of part ofthe press. Fig. 3 is a cross-section throughthe baling-chamber.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views to a larger 7 scale, showing theautomatic gripper for retaining the loops while the needles performtheir return movement. Fig. 6 is a plan showing a modified arrangementfor operating the needles.

A is-the frame of the press.

B isthe plunger. G O are the wires for binding the bales, D D are thereels on which the said wires are wound, and E E are the fingers orretainers usually employed in presses of this kind for preventingreaction or reexpansion of the material after it has been compressed bythe plunger.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, a a are themechanically-operated needles, which are mounted at a in swinging arms apivoted on a vertical spindle a carried by brackets a on the frame ofthe machine, these arms being connected together, as shown in Fig 3. Theouter ends of the needles are also connected together, as shown in Figs.1 and 3, and are coupled to a link a pivoted at a to a bracket a" on thesaid frame, which latter has slots a for the needles to pass through. Intheir forward extremities or eyes the needles are provided with groovedrollers a into its highest position.

around which the wires extend as they are being passed through the pressand which serve to diminish the friction on the said wires. The resultof this arrangement for carrying the needles is that they have acompound motion imparted to them by reason of the arms a turning on adifferent center to the link a Consequently when the arms (t areoperated in the manner hereinafter de scribed to thrust the needlesthrough the press the said needles turn 'on their pivots a undertheaction of the link a and are rapidly brought into a positionapproximately at right angles to the press and maintain this position asthey are thrust through the slots a and across the press.

The operation of the arms a is effected by a rack l), whichis in gear,through the medium of a pair of pinions Z) N, with a toothed sector orsegmental rack b secured at-the lower extremity of the spindle a Therack b is mounted in suitable guides beneath the framing and carries atone end a pair of links Z)", pivoted on a cross-pin N, Fig. 1, andcarrying at their free ends a cross-barb. This latter cross-bar isadapted to be put into and out of engagement with a pair of plates 0,projecting on the under side of the plunger of the press and havingnotches or recesses c to receive the said cross-bar. \Vhen the plungerhas eifected the pressing of a bale and is about to reeede, theattendant throws the cross-bar I) up into the notches o by the devicehereinafter mentioned, and the result is that the plunger carries therack I) back with it and so operates the needles and causes them tothrust the loops of wire through the press across the rear of the bales.

(Z (Z are the automatic grippers for retaining the loops of wire afterthey have been passed through the press. These grippers are pivoted at(Z' to brackets (Z secured to the frame, and are provided with pivotedcam-like projections (i which can, however, only turn on their pivots din the direction of the arrow, Fig. 4, the movement in the otherdirection being prevented by a stop (V.

(Z is a spring which tends to draw the grippers (Z downward until theyrest on brackets d The arrangement is such that theeye of each needle inpassing out through the press comes under its respective gripper betweenthe pivot thereof and the projection d Owing to the compound nature ofthe movement of the needle, the said eye is at the same time displacedlaterally, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 5, and strikes theprojection (Z in the direction in which the latter is unable to move.The consequence is that the said projection rides up onto the needleafter the manner of a cam, so lifting the gripper Immediately, however,that the needle has passed from beneath the projection (Z the gripperfalls and its nose (1 inserts itself into the wire loop. (See Figs.atand 5.) In its return movement, however, the needle strikes theprojection (1 in the opposite dircetion 6., that in which it is free toturn-the result being that the said projection simply swings upward onits pivot d without raising the gripper, and consequently the nose (1remains in engagement with the loop all the time the needle is retiringand until the attendant disengages it.

The cutting device, into which the wire is placed after being disengagedfrom the gripper (7, comprises a handle e, carrying a cutter 6, workingbetween a pair of stationary jaws c c One edge of the cutter e and theadjacent edge of the jaw e are rounded off, while the other edge of thecutter and the edge of the jaw c are sharp, so that while the latteredges sever the wire the former serve to nip and retain that leg of theloop which is still left in the eye of the needle and is connected tothe reel. It should be mentioned with regard to Fig. 5 that the end ofthe wire shown as held in the cutter was passed through the press by theprevious operation of the needle and that it forms in reality acontinuation of the loop of wire shown in the needle, the intermediateportion being stretched around the bale. It will be understoodtherefore, that all the wires shown in Fig. 0 form one continuous lengthwhich is still in connection with the reel. Thus the needles a neverbecome disconnected from the wires, but simply after each cuttingopera-tion retire along those legs of the loops which are held in thecutter and which still remain connected with the reels.

The device whereby the operation of the needles is controlled, so thatthey can be thrown into action at will, comprises a handle f, carried byan axle f, which has at its opposite extremity an arm f to prevent itsbeing turned in the wrong direction and is mounted in brackets f On theaxle f is a pair of cranked arms f, adapted when the axle is turned toengage with the aforesaid links 71 and to raise them so as to throw thecross-bar Z) into the recesses c of the projecting plates 0 on theplunger.

The force with which the edges of the recesses c bear against thecross-bar b when the plunger is moving prevents the said bar droppingout of engagement; but in order to positively prevent this suitablerails or guides 1'' (see Fig. 1) are provided, onto which the ends ofthe barb pass at the commencement of the travel and which effectuallykeep the bar in the recess until the plunger returns it to the end ofthe railf.

In order to prevent the reels D revolving at times when the wires arenot being drawn oil"; them, we employ a ratchet g, Figs. 1, 2, and 8,and pawl g in connection with each reel, the pawl having an extension ortail g carrying a bent wire rod g through which the wire from the reelpasses, the arrangement being such that the pawl engages with the teethof the ratchet g and prevents the reels turning as long as the wire 0 isslack and is hanging, as in Fig.1; but immediately the the loop left onthe gripper d, which loop is wire is tightened up, which occurs when itis being drawn into the press,the tail 9 is raised, so depressing thepawl and setting the reel free.

g g are bent rods, and g' g are rollers which serve, respectively, asguides for the wire and to prevent friction of the same against theedges of the slots a The action of the press is as follows: The wires 0are first passed through the eyes of the needles and across the press,and their ends are secured in the cutting device between the roundededges of the cutter e and jaw 6 The material is then fed into the pressbetween the wire and the plunger in succes-,

sive charges, and the plunger is operated to compress the said materialand gradually build up the bale, reaction of the compressed materialbeing prevented by the spring-fingers or retainers E. During theseoperations, which are of the ordinary kind, the wires originallystretched straight across the press are gradually forced laterally intoa loop, which eventually extends from the cutting device to the eye ofthe needle around three sides of the bale, as shown in Fig. 2. The nextstep is to complete the encircling of the bale by the wires, which isdone by means of the needles. For this purpose just as the plunger iscommencing its backward stroke the handle f is operated to throw thecross-bar I I), connected to the rack b, into engagement with thenotchedplates 0 on the plunger, as hereinbefore described. Consequently as theplunger recedes the rack b is drawn back with it, and through the mediumof the toothed gearing b b b the arms or are caused to turn on theirpivots and the needles are thrust through the slots a in the press andproject out on the other side thereof and the automatic grippers dinsert themselves, as already explained, into the loops of wire.Concurrently with this the plunger, which has completed its rearwardmovement, commences to move forward and the rack 17 reverses the motionof the needles, causing them to swing back toward the position shown inFig. 2, the loops of wire being, however, retained on the noses d of thegrippers, which then rest on the brackets d". The plunger completes itsforward movement, but as it commences to move rearwardly again the edgesof the recesses c" in the plates 0 during the change of motionmomentarily cease to press on the bar 19 The latter therefore, being nowin the raised position shown in Fig. 1 and being unsupported by therails f immediately falls out of the said recesses and the rack 19 isautomatically disconnected from the plunger. To prevent the rack b frombeing driven too far forward, a pair of stops f are provided, againstwhich the ends of the bar b engage if the said bar be carried too far bythe plunger. Meanwhile the attendant opens the cutter and releases theend of the wire that had previously been in-it and transfers to it thencut off, one endi. e., that connected to the reel-being held between therounded edges of the cutter, while the other, which is connected to thebale, is twisted around the wire which has just been released from thecutter. The apparatus is now ready for the formation of another bale,which proceeds in a precisely similar manner.

Referring now to Fig. 6, this shows a modified arrangement we maysometimes employ for operating the arms a and the needles instead of thegearing Z1 b b previously described. In this case h h are the two armsof a bell-crank lever pivoted at h. The arm 71/ has. a pin-and-slotconnection with a rod Ffifltaking the place of the rackb in the formerarrangement, while the arm h is connected with a corresponding arm k onthe spindle 01, of the arm a by means of a link h extending beneath thebottom of the press. The operation of the parts is substantially thesame as that of the previous arrangement.

What we claim is 1. In a baling-press, the combination ofmechanically-operated needles, swinging arms in which said needles aremounted, links connected with said needles and pivoted eccentricallywith regard to said arms for imparting a compound motion to the needles,means for actuating said arms from a moving part of the press, reels forsupplying continuous lengths of wire to said needles, automatic Ioogrippers for retaining said lengths of wire as carried through the pressby the needles, and mechanism for cutting the loops of wire retained bysaid grippers and for holding one of the legs of each loop after thesame is cut, substantially as described.

2. In a baling-press, the combination of a plunger,mechanically-operated needles, swinging arms in which said needles aremounted, means for actuating said armsfrom the plunger, links connectedwith said nee dles-and pivoted eccentrically with regard to said armsfor imparting a compound motion to the needles, reels for supplyingcontinuous lengths of wire to the needles, grippers for retaining saidlengths of wire as carried through the press by the needles, andmechanism for cutting said wire and for holding one of the legs of eachloop after the same is cut, substantially as described.

3. In a baling-press, the combination of mechanically operated needles,swinging arms carrying said needles, a spindle on which said arms arepivoted, eccentrically-pivoted links connected with said needles toimpart a compound motion thereto, a toothed sector secured to thespindle of the swinging arms, a rack, gearing for connecting said rackand sector, a plunger, and means for connecting said rack and plunger tooperate the swing ing arms and needles, substantially as described.

4. In a baling-press, the combination of a plunger, swinging armsactuated from said plunger, needles mounted in said swinging arms, linksconnected with said needles and pivoted eccentrieally with regard tosaid swinging arms, for imparting a compound motion to the needles,reels for supplying continuous lengths of wire to said needles,automatic grippers for retaining said lengths of wire after they arecarried through the press by the needles, mechanism controlled from thewires to start and stop the reels, and

mechanism for cutting the loops of wire retained by the grippers and forholding one of the legs of each loop after the same is cut,substantially as described.

5. In a baling-press the combination of a reciprocating plunger,mechanicallyroperated

